Hunter and Prey
by liliaeth
Summary: A Hunter story from a Hunter's point of view


The Hunter and his prey

by [Lore Krajsman][1]

**Disclaimer:**

I owe neither the Highlander-concept or anything connected to it.  
All I owe is the character of Brad Miller.  
I'm just playing with these ideas so please don't sue me.

**Characters**: Richie Ryan  
Brad Miller

**Continuitywise**:

This story happens a few months after Richie offed Mako,  
but before he was hunted by Hyde.

My name is Brad Miller.  
Until about a year or so ago I was your average shopkeeper.  
Then it happened.  
My wife and I, Oh God I miss her, we were in our store when this man came in.  
I'd seen the type before, so I kept an eye on him as he picked through the rows.  
I went over for my shotgun, I had it placed under my desk,  
But tried not to show it.  
Then he came up to us.

Suddenly he pulled my wife in his reach and held a gun at her head.  
I pulled up my own and shot him before he could use her as cover.  
The bullet went straight through the heart.  
He went down.  
By God, I swear you he went down.

I got closer to him and saw the wound.  
It was almost big enough to stick your hand through.  
I can still hear my Carla screaming.  
I'd never shot a man before in my life.  
I guess I was shocked by the blood, but I went over to Carla and tried to calm her down. Then she started screaming again.  
I tried telling her it was over, but she didn't listen.  
Then a horrible laugh filled the room.

I turned around and saw 'him'.  
It seemed impossible. The dead man was actually getting up. The blood was still there, but it didn't even seem to bother him.  
He picked up his gun, man.  
He picked up that gun and before   
He shot Carla.

I held her in my arms, looked up to that thing.  
The smirk in its face as he reached to the gun to shoot me.  
I froze as I saw my death reflected in that muzzle.  
Suddenly shots were fired. I looked down. Nothing.

Then I looked up again and saw that the 'man'(?) was down again.  
Behind it were three men, armed with rifles and one with a sword.  
I wanted to ask what had happened.  
Then one of the men cut the things head of and lightening seemed to be coming out of the corpse.  
All through it I held on to Carla. The men didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"What was that thing?" I asked then.  
"A monster in human disguise.  
Are you alright?"  
"Yes, but, Oh my God, it killed Carla. It would have killed me.  
Carla!" I started sobbing uncontrolledly. Calling out her name

One of the three came up to me and took my head on his shoulder, consoling me.

"He's not the only one of his kind." He said. "We fight then to save humanity."  
"Why?"  
"Because no-one else can."  
The big blond man offered me his hand and I clasped it in mine.  
"Will you help us?"  
"Yes " I said "Yes."

Ever since I've been fighting these demons  
Now I am one of the Hunters.  
We will not let them rule us.

**Chapter One**

We follow the boy around.  
At first sight it doesn't seem like he's doing anything.  
Most people would think him nothing more than a mere boy.  
About 19.  
But I know the truth now.  
It's a monster. It looks like a human being, It even behaves like one.  
But it isn't. It's a demon, an abomimation that has to be stopped.

I've been watching it all week now.  
Soon we will strike.  
The others say it's a young one. It hasn't even been one of them for more than a few months. But already it has killed.

Another of its kind maybe, but still.  
It's a murderer like all of them.

The thing starts its bike and we follow it in our car.  
Staying back a bit, but still it looks behind, luckily not in our way..  


Paranoid I guess.  
Maybe the boy in the demons body will finally know peace when we release its soul.  
The thing stops in front of a drugstore ,one just like the one I used to own, before,   
As we wait outside, two teenagers enter as well.  
One of them keeps looking back.  
I can see it through the window now,  
How the two go through the store, along the shelves. I pick up my gun, put it in my coat and step out.

"Brad!" My partner yells.  
"I can't let those people get hurt."  
I go up to the door. Danny rustles up his stuff and follows me in.  
Things are already speeding up inside.  
One of the boys is holding a gun pointed at the deskclerk.  
It's a mere girl. No more than 16, I think.

I get worried as I see the freak, Ryan go up to her.  
What's that bastard planning, is it using those boys.  
Then one of the two boys sees me and Danny come in.  
He startles and the gun goes off.

Ryan, the immortal jumps in front of it. Taking the bullet near its heart.  
Why did it do that?

The freak goes down.

I pull out my gun and tell the boys to drop their guns. One of them does,  
The other one tries to shoot me, but Danny is first and the kid goes down.  
I keep the other under shot as the girl hits the alarm.  
Suddenly I hear a loud gasp as the immortal starts coming back to life.  
Danny shoots it again.  
The others look up at us in shock. They have no idea what they're dealing with.

Danny looks at me and I take the immortals feet as he takes its arms.  
Together we drag it to the trunk.  
Danny shoots it again, right after we've thrown it in.  
I keep wondering why it threw itself in front of the girl.  
Maybe it was just trying to get out of the way and jumped in the wrong direction, maybe  
We take off to the base. From the sounds in the back, the demon has come to again.  


* * *

As we arrive, Danny and I take out our guns. The others notice it and take out theirs as well.  
I open up the lid. The demon jumps out, right at me.  
Danny shoots at him. In the shoulder this time. It goes down, but doesn't die.  
"Why didn't you cuff it, you idiots." Tom Durgan yells.  
He's our superior and very much right in this case. We just weren't thinking;  
I slouch down my head.  
The immortal grabs its shoulder, trying to get up.  
It's obvious that it knows who we are.  
The abomination's trying not to show it, but I can see a hinge of fear hiding behind its bravado.

Ronnie frisks it hardhandedly, getting a round off curses out of the thing and ending up with a clamshell rapier.  
It looks like a kid damnit, but I harden myself with images of Carla, bleeding to death in my arms. All because of one of these things.

"Do we take its head now or later?" I ask.  
"Later.  
It could still be of use against Mac Leod."

Tom orders him to head in, the freak refuses. Spitting in his face.  
Tom takes it by its shirt and uses it to clean up. Then he hits the thing in the face.  
"You can go easy, or hard, your choice.  
But remember freak, we know how to kill you."  
"So what?  
You'll kill me anyway.  
Like you damn bastards killed Darius." It spits out that last sentence.  
"I guess it'll be the hard way then." I say and shoot him down.  
"Good shot." Danny remarks.

I shrug off the compliment and take up its feet again, while Ronnie takes him by the arms.  
This time we chain it up in one of the rooms in the basement.

Tom puts Danny and me on guard duty.  
As it wakes up, this time a bit slower than before, it looks straight up at us.  
It doesn't say a word.

**Chapter two**

** **

We stay there for a few hours.  
Then Tom calls Danny up. Mac Leod could arrive at any time now.  
How could that monster get four centuries while an innocent soul like Carla got no more than 24 years.

I remain on guard.

I startle up as I hear its voice.  
"How can you do it.  
Kill people you've never seen, who've done you no harm."  
"You're one to say, murderer." I snipe.  
"I killed one man for revenge and I'll regret it as long as I live.  
What's your excuse?"  
"One of your kind killed my wife."  
"So you decide to hate us all. Nice.  
A mortal killed one of my best friends, a mortal called Tessa.  
After that he killed me.  
But you don't see me going around, killing every mortal I meet.  
We're not all bad."

"Yeah right.  
Like if you'd admit it."

He falls still again.  
I keep looking at its wrists as they're chained over his head up to the wall.  
Ready for any attempt of his to escape. The immortal keeps looking at me with those big blue eyes of his.

It, not he.

Man I've got to remember.  
That's a thing, a demon out to rule the world and subject the human race.  
It's not even a person. I just looks like one.  
If only I can keep that in mind.  
It just looks so young. With that curly red hair and those deceivingly innocent blue eyes.

I think back to the three other demons that I helped destroy.  
Two males and a female.  
It was so much easier to kill them. They weren't tied up.  
We just shot them and then we took their heads before they woke up.

Then he, it starts talking again.  
"Well one good thing to come out of my fight with Mac Leod.  
Now I won't be of any use to lure him in a trap.  
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

I pause for a second.

"His pride won't allow him to stay away."

The thing shrugs its head.  
"You don't even know him."  
"I don't need to know the freak, to know he's evil."  
"He's not. He's a good man."  
I hear the self-delusion in its voice. Like if it actually beliefs what it's saying.  
I guess even demons can delude themselves into believing they have feelings.  
How could a monster like Mac Leod ever care about anyone.  
(But he saved that girl when he didn't have to.)  
He no it, it is still young. It might still have a few human emotions left.

I take up my gun and tell him to shut up.  
It just rests back against the walls, not quite able to sit down because of the chains.

"We're not all evil." It tries.  
Like if I'll believe that.

**Chapter 3**

A few hours later and Mac Leod still hasn't arrived.  
We are both quiet.  
Ryan's slumping back in his chains, chafewounds appear, but gradually start disappearing again. It doesn't even seem rattled by it.  
I can't stop myself.

"What's it like?"  
"What's what like?"  
"The healing." I say. The immortality, I think.  
"It tingles."  
"That's not what I meant. What's it like to know you're still alive, while by all rights you should be lying three feet under the ground."  
"You mean when Tessa died."  
"Yes."  
"It's weird. I just try to see it as a gift.  
A second chance to make something out of my life.  
Like if every day is precious and I should thank God for giving me that chance. But then I wonder why Tessa didn't get that gift."

I'm tempted to say she wasn't a monster like him, that he's thanking the wrong side, but finally all I say is:

"Who was she?"  
"A friend.  
She was Macs lover. When I first met her she didn't trust me much, but as we got to know each other, she became like an older sister.  
Whenever Mac would go off to fight, we could talk and on other times as well."  
He pauses for a second.  
"I've got a picture of her and Mac in my wallet if you want to see it."  
"Yeah right, so you can attack me."  
"Oh come on man, what can I do. It's not like if I could get out of these."  
Showing the chains on his wrists.  
I reach up at him and take the wallet out of his pocket.  
It's a picture of a big dark man I recognize as Mac Leod and a beautiful blond woman.  
"How did she die?"  
"A Hunter called Pallin Wolf kidnapped her to get to Mac Leod . Mac and I freed her, and he told us to wait for him outside.  
Some punk on a bike shot her for a few meazry bucks.  
Her and me.  
Tessa and I died on the spot. When I woke up she was in Macs arms and he was crying.  
I'd never before seen him cry.  
We'd freed her from Wolf damnit. She should have been safe."

I could understand his anger.  
It hadn't been all that long since I lost Carla.

"You really think Mac Leod had feelings for her?"  
"He loved her. He was going to marry her, man. They'd just gotten engaged."

It just didn't match up.  
Immortals weren't supposed to be capable of loving anyone or anything.  
I put the wallet down and got back on my seat.

"Why do you do this?"  
"Do what?"  
"Act like if you're human. I already know you're not."  
"That's where you're wrong pal.  
I may be immortal, but I'm as human as you or anyone else.  
I can feel , love, just like you.  
And whatever they've told you, we're not inhuman monsters.  
We're just people who are harder to kill and sometimes live longer than others."

I try to lock it all out. Not listening;  
He seems to understands and stops.  
We just sit there and stay silent.

Then

"At least you saved that girls life.  
She is still alive I hope."  
"We don't hurt innocents."  
"Yeah right. I've met your kind before.  
You kill anyone that has the misfortune to stand in your way."  
"She's still alive. Why would you care?"  
"She's young and mortal.  
It's a shame to see anyone, mortal or immortal for that matter, die that young."

Once again we both fall silent.

******Chapter Four**

"What's your name?"  
"Uh what?"  
"Mine's Richie Ryan, but you already know that. What's yours?"  
"Why should I tell you?" I answer grumpily.  
"I don't know.  
I guess It gives me a way to think of you other than the 'hunter who's keeping a gun pointed at my head."  
"Miller. Brad Miller."  
"Nice to meet you Brad.  
I'd offer you my hand, if it weren't chained up, but I doubt you'd take it anyway."

Think of Carla, think of Carla.  
I can't start liking him. He's a monster. A freak. A demonspawn.

We sit there for a few more hours.  
Every once and a while one of us says something,  
But we never really start talking again.  
I hear about his fascination with motorcycles, a girl he met in New Orleans.  
I tell him about Carla.  
More than I should have.  
But these talks always end. Both of us keeping ourselves reserved.

Then I hear steps approaching.  
Tom and Danny come in with guns blazing.  
Tom smiles at me in approval as he sees me keeping my gun pointed at the door and returning it to Ryan after recognizing them.

"Well freak. Your time's up. Mac Leod doesn't even answer our calls, so I guess he doesn't really care about you being alive or not.  
Take him up."

Danny and I open the chains after Danny puts some cuffs on his wrists and feet.  
He tries to hit us, but I block him. Then Danny knocks him out.  
We pull him out of the cellar and take him outside.  
Far enough from the house and the cars to avoid damage from the quickening.  
Then Tom leaves Danny and me with the job of beheading him.  
Ryan is just awakening as we arrive on the spot.  
Danny takes the sword.

He lifts it and   
I just can't let him do it and hit him on the back of his head with my gun.

Ryan looks at me in surprise.  
I crouch beside him and start opening the cuffs.  
He seems to be wondering what I'm doing. I can't blame him.

"Why?"  
"Don't ask. Just leave before I change my mind."  
"And you?"  
"If you hit me, I can say someone hit me on the head.  
After that." I shrug. "I don't know."

He smiles.

"Thanks."

He takes the sword, his sword, lying on the ground.  
Then he looks at me. I turn around and he hits me on the head with the hilt of the sword. The last thing I see is the image of running feet.

Later Tom and the others presume Mac Leod must have arrived and gotten of with Ryan.  
The pain in my and Danny's head clears us of any wrongdoings.

Afterwards I leave.

I tell them its to find out how in Gods name Mac Leod got in unseen to get Ryan out.  
But I don't go back.

I leave most of my stuff at the base. All I take is Ryan's wallet and my coat.  
I don't know what I'm doing.  
I ride up to Seacouver.  
It's quite near and all that.  
I don't dare go up to Mac Leod, so I head to Watcher headquarters.

A bar in construction called Joe's.

The man behind the counter looks up at me.

"Mister Dawson?" I ask.  
"Yes."  
"Would you mind giving this to a Richie Ryan when you see him."  
He notices the Watcher-tattoo as I hand over the wallet.  
"What?"  
Before he can ask anything I turn around and leave out the door.

******Epilogue**

It's been five years since I left the Hunters.  
Since Richie Ryan.  
They weren't too happy with my resignation.  
Neither were the Watchers when they found out I'd been a member.  
I've been hiding for the past few years.  
Trying to stay away from both.  
Every once and awhile wondering about immortals.  
Wondering whether I'd ever met any again.

I met a woman with beautiful red hair.  
She 's Irish and I think she loves me and I her.  
We're in her room.

"Brad there's something I have to tell you."  
"What is it Ceirdwynn?"

She takes out a dagger and before I can do or say anything to stop her she slits her own wrist.  
As I see the energy crackle and the wound close

All I can say is: "You're immortal!"

She looks at me in surprise.

And so it begins.

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